Bo leads Renee over to the couch before walking out into the squad room, “Okay people listen up…Marcie, please bring Mrs. Buchanan a glass of water and sit with her. John I need you to gather a team of officers and head over to my family’s home and search the grounds. We’re looking for my father, Asa Buchanan. Antonio I want you to take another team and lead the search inside the residence. Bag every thing,” he turns to an officer that is standing off to his left, “Davies, find out where Todd and Blair Manning are. I want to know their whereabouts for the past six hours, since I removed them from my father’s home until now.”
He motions for John and Antonio to step off to the side, “What’s up boss?”
“My stepmother said that she found blood on the carpet in the living room and a broken sculpture lying on the floor. I want the sculpture analyzed and the blood sample sent down to the lab as soon as possible”
“I’m on it, boss.” Antonio says.
“What’s the deal with Manning and Blair?” John asks.
“Just call it a gut feeling. There was just something in Blair’s eyes today when I kicked them out of the house.”
John and Antonio leave followed by the officers that they’ve decided to take with them. Bo walks back into his office to grab his jacket and check on Renee. He nods to Marcie who gives him a small smile and walks back out to her desk. Bo walks over and sits down beside her, “We’re going to find him, Renee. I promise you.”
“I can’t lose him, Bo.”
“You won’t. Listen, why don’t I call Kevin and have him come and take you to the Palace. I’ll come by and see you and fill you in, okay?” Renee nods and Bo makes the call. Twenty minutes later Kevin is walking Renee out of the squad room and Bo is on his way to the mansion.
At the same time Nora and Matthew are making their way home. Matthew is talking a mile a minute about the fishing trip he’s going to be taking with his dad and how excited his dad is going to be when they surprise him. Nora looks at him and smiles, his excitement rubbing off, and suddenly she can’t wait to get home.
The pilot comes over the intercom letting them know that they’re making their final decent into Llanview and they should be landing with in a half hour. Matthew looks up at her and smiles, “Almost home, mom.”
Nora puts her arm around him and pulls him close, “Yep, almost home.”
Bo walks through the mansion doors and into the living room. He looks around at the officers searching the house and sees them walking around the grounds, flash lights searching for any sign of his father. Bo walks over to Antonio who is kneeling down in front of the desk. Bo kneels down beside him, “Is that the sculpture?”
“Yeah, we found it on the floor in front of the fireplace.” He turns it over, “There’s blood on the side of it. We’ve taken a sample of the blood from the carpet and I’m sure it’s going to match the blood on the sculpture.”
“I want you to take it down to the lab personally, Antonio. I don’t want any screw ups. If Blair or Todd or both of them are behind this I don’t want them to have any wiggle room.”
“I’ll take care of it, Commissioner.”
Bo nods and watches as Antonio and another officer label the bags and leave for the lab. A few moments later John walks into the living room. Bo walks over to him, “Any sign of my father?”
Matthew looks out the window, watching the ground get closer and closer. Finally the wheels of the plane touch down and Matthew grabs his backpack off the ground. He begins to unbuckle his seat belt, “Whoa, hold up champ, we have to wait until the plane stops.” Nora says with a laugh.
Matthew looks up at his mother and smiles, “Sorry mom. Guess I’m just excited.”
Nora kisses the top of his head, “I know you are, sweetie. I know.”
Matthew reaches into the front pocket of his backpack and pulls out the smooth stone he found by the lake that morning. He looks at it for a few minutes and then lovingly puts it in his pocket. He looks back out the window and watches as the lights grow brighter the closer they get to the terminal.
Finally the captain announces their arrival and gives the all clear signal. Matthew jumps out of his seat and grabs Nora’s hand, “Come on mom, let’s go see dad.”
Nora grabs her purse and briefcase out of the overhead compartment and follows Matthew off the plane, having to almost jog to keep up with him. They gather their luggage and quickly find the car that Nora had arranged to pick them up. The driver places their bags in the trunk and Matthew and Nora climb into the back seat. Nora leans over the seat, “Llanview Police Station, please,” she looks down at Matthew, “and hurry.”
They arrive at the station twenty minutes later. She gives the driver directions to her home and some extra fare to drop their luggage off at the house, letting him know that her housekeeper is expecting him. Matthew paces impatiently by the car, heaving a sigh, when the driver finally gets back into the car and drives away. He grabs Nora’s hand and pulls her towards the front doors.
Nora and Matthew walk into the squad room. Matthew lets go of Nora’s hand and runs towards Bo’s office, “Matthew wait up,” Nora yells after him. Matthew stops, “You can’t just run into your father’s office…”
Marcie walks into the squad room, hearing the last of what Nora just said to Matthew, “Ms. Buchanan, you’re back early. The Commissioner isn’t in.”
“Oh, do you know when he’s expected back?”
Marcie looks over at Matthew and then back at Nora. She motions for Nora to step to the side, away from Matthew, “He’s at the Buchanan Mansion. His father’s missing.”
Bo is standing out on the terrace, looking out over the grounds, watching the last of the officer’s as they search the woods surrounding the edge of the property. John had filled him in on their search. They knew that someone had been drug out of the house and through the grounds, leading up to the woods, but that was where the trail ended. They had no idea who was the dragger and who was the one being dragged, but Bo had a sinking feeling about what exactly had transpired there earlier.
Nora walks over to where Matthew is sitting at the desk across from Marcie’s. She kneels down in front of him, “Hey, listen champ. It doesn’t look like your dad’s here right now. He’s out on a big case.”
“Can we wait for him?”
Nora shakes her head, “No sweetie, I’m sorry.” She looks over at Marcie, “Marcie’s going to drop you off at home.”
“Aren’t you coming?”
“No, Matthew, but I promise I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
Marcie walks over and takes Matthew’s hand, “How about we stop at the diner on the way home and we’ll get some cheeseburgers and some hot fudge sundaes.”
Nora looks between them and smiles, “How about it champ? Burgers and sundaes?”
Matthew shrugs, “Okay.”
Nora kisses the top of his head and thanks Marcie. She pulls out her cell phone and dials his number. She sighs when it goes straight to voice mail. She motions for one of the officers, “Yes, ADA Buchanan?”
“I need you to take me to the Buchanan residence, please.” The officer nods and smiles, he remembers them from when they were together and he knew that she was exactly what the Commissioner needed now.
Bo watches as the officers leave the grounds, having searched as much as they can in the dark. He walks into the living room and over to the bar, pouring himself a drink. He looks up when he hears the door open. He stands up, placing the glass down on the table. He walks towards her…she walks towards him. They stop, a few inches from each other, “I…I came as soon as I heard.”
Bo nods, “You didn’t have to, but I’m glad you did.”
Nora reaches out and takes his hand, “I bet Asa comes walking through that door any minute, with a perfectly good excuse as to where he’s been all this time.”
Bo smiles a sad smile, “God I hope so.” He leads her over to the couch, “So why did you come home early?”
Nora looks at him, their closeness making her feel things she had no right feeling, “Matthew missed his daddy.”
Bo smiles again, “I missed him too.” He looks at her, “I missed you too; it just wasn’t the same without you guys.”
Nora smiles, swallowing the lump that was forming in her throat, “I missed you too, Bo. I’m sorry I took off like that with Matthew, I just needed some time away.”
Bo places his finger on her lips, “You don’t have to explain, Nora. It’s okay.” He leans back, “So where’s Matthew?”
Marcie was heading home so she said that she would take him home. She took him by the diner for some dinner and ice cream. He was pretty disappointed that you weren’t at the office when we got there. He wanted to surprise you.” She says with a smile.
Bo smiles, “Does he know…about Pa I mean?”
Nora shakes her head, “No, I didn’t want to tell him, not without you.”
He looks over at her, “Would you mind if I stopped by and saw him?”
Nora lays her hand on top of his, “Of course not, Bo. I bet he’s sitting on the couch, watching the door, just waiting for you to walk through it.”
Bo stands up and holds his hand out to her. She places her hand in his and he helps her off the couch. He turned out the light in the living room after looking around the room. They stopped by the Palace and checked on Renee, filling her in on the details of the search. They left a few minutes later, arriving at Nora’s ten minutes later.
Nora slips the key in the lock quietly opening the door. They walk into the dimly lit house and hang up their jackets. They walk into the living room where the images from the TV dance around the room. MaryAnn looks up from the book she was reading and stands up. She walks over to them, “He tried to stay awake,” she looks over at Bo, “He just knew his dad was going to come and see him.”
Nora looked over at Bo and smiled. Bo thanks MaryAnn and walks over to where Matthew is lying on the couch. Nora sees MaryAnn to the door, thanking her for staying late. Nora walks back into the room and watches as Bo brushes the hair off his forehead. Matthew’s eyes slowly flutter open, “Hey, dad. I knew you’d come.” He says quietly.
Bo holds out his arms and Matthew climbs into his lap, “Boy did I miss you, champ. Did you have fun in Chicago with your mom and sister?”
Matthew looks over at his mother, and then back at Bo, “Yeah, but I wish you had been there too.”
Bo pulls him close and kisses the top of his head, “We’re going to go up to the lake and do some catching up, how does that sound?”
“Just you and me?” Bo nods and Matthew smiles, “Dad?”
"Yeah, buddy?”
“Where were you, you know before when mom and me came to the station? We were going to surprise you.”
Bo looks over at Nora who walks over and sits down beside them. She smiles a small smile and nods, letting Bo know that they should tell him the truth. Bo shifts Matthew, setting him down between them on the couch, “Matthew, your mom and I have something really important to tell you, okay? Matthew nods, “Tonight there was an accident at Granpa’s house. We don’t know whether it was Granpa that had the accident, because well for right now we can’t find him.” Bo sees the tears welling up in Matthew’s eyes, “Now, I know that you’re scared and that you might have a lot of questions, but I want to tell you that I promise we’re going to do every thing we can to find Granpa and to bring him back home where he belongs. Do you understand what I’m telling you Matt?”
Matthew nods, “Is that why you look so sad?”
“Yeah, I’m a little sad, sport, but you know what?”
Matthew shakes his head, “What?”
“There’s no way I can be sad when I’ve got you.”
Matthew looks at him and smiles, throwing his arms around Bo’s neck, “I love you, dad.”
Bo looks over Matthew’s shoulders at Nora, the tears welling up in both of their eyes, “I love you too, Matt. I love you too.”
Ten minutes later Bo is walking back down the stairs after tucking Matthew in. He walks into the living room and finds it empty. He sees the light coming through the half opened doors to her office. He walks over and pushes the doors open. She’s sitting behind her desk, staring at her computer. He walks over and stands in front of her desk, “Matthew’s down for the count. I barely got through the next chapter of the book we’re reading together and his eyes were closed.”
“He’s had a long day.” She stands up and walks around her desk, “I know you told Matthew you were okay, but you can tell me the truth. How are you really doing?”
Bo sighs, “I’m fine. We’ll find Pa and like you said he’ll give us his explanation and we’ll hug, we’ll probably yell and then every thing will be back to normal.”
Nora lays her hand on his arm. He looks down at it, its warmth settling him and unsettling him all at the same time. He looks up at her, and she smiles, “Come on, Buchanan, it’s me…I know you, maybe too well. I can see it in your eyes, and I know you’re not okay.”
Bo smiles, she knew him better than anyone has ever known him. He sits down in the chair with a sigh, “I’m afraid this time things may not turn out the way we hope they will. He hasn’t been himself for months and this war he’s been waging with Manning and Blair seems to have escalated and I’m afraid if and when we do find him, he’s not going to be the same.”
In a small dilapidated out building at the far edge of the Buchanan property someone stirs on the floor. He carefully sits up, grabbing his head, trying to keep the room from spinning. He squeezes his eyes shut for a moment and attempts to open them a few minutes later. He looks around the small room, releasing a deep sigh. He reaches out and lays his hand on the wall, using it for support as he attempts to stand. He collapses on the small cot against the wall. He places his hand back on the back of his head and winces in pain. He looks down at his hands, the moonlight allowing him a small sliver of light with which to see. He sees the gold band on his left hand. So I’m married he thinks to himself, but to who?
TBC…